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A Houston consulting firm preparing a plan to enhance Caldwell’s local business offerings said it is recruiting restaurants and a clothing store, and they could locate here in six months to a year.

Aaron Farmer of The Retail Coach said his firm is recruiting both fast food and casual, sit-down restaurant prospects and a department store specializing in clothing sales. Farmer declined to name the prospects at this time, since negotiations are ongoing. However, he said an announcement could be forthcoming in six months to a year. Also, his firm is looking at an additional grocery store or at an expansion of what is already here, he said.

Farmer said his firm is focusing on reducing “leakage” — losing customers to providers in outlying areas. “The largest leakage is for restaurants, casual and fast food. That is a priority,” Farmer said on Monday, June 7. “We are actively talking to and recruiting prospects.”

Farmer said The Retail Coach has briefed the Caldwell City Council on the prospects, and the city will handle the follow up. The Retail Coach will now assist them in an advisory capacity, he said. “Our coaching period has now started,” he said. Farmer said the prospects are Texas-based, with franchise locations in College Station and Navasota. Farmer said he believes Caldwell has a sustainable market, and the franchises could easily locate here. “You have two major thoroughfares with State Highways 21 and 36,” Farmer said. “With the traffic counts and Texas A&M being as close as it is, it is really a benefit.”

Farmer said he “has already got a good response from some retailers.” The city has also made it reasonable for businesses to locate here, so any new additions will help the overall economy, he said. “If we can keep people shopping in Caldwell, that is sales tax revenue for the city,” Farmer said. The Retail Coach’s 300-plus page study was provided as a project of the Burleson County Chamber of Commerce and the City of Caldwell.

Farmer was in town for several weeks conducting the research and briefed local citizens and business leaders on Nov. 30 at the Caldwell Civic Center. The concept is to retain existing customers and draw more local traffic by recruiting new retail businesses. If there is more local business traffic, then there is more business for everyone. Burleson County Judge Mike Sutherland was instrumental in finding Farmer, who was recommended by the Lowry Mays School of Business at Texas A&M University.

Farmer presented extensive statistical data in November on Caldwell customers’ demographics and buying habits. Farmer said Caldwell has $78 million in actual, annual retail sales but $200,435,400 in sales potential — leaving a “leakage” of $122,435,400. “You can’t capture all of that $122 million, but what you want to do is bring that leakage down. The goal is to keep residents shopping in Caldwell,” Farmer said in November. Farmer said Caldwell had up to $25 million in grocery sales potential but only $10 million in actual sales. Restaurants have $25 million in potential sales but just $9 million in actual sales. Lumber and building has about a $2 million leakage and general merchandise about a $1 million leakage, he said.

The study helps determine what services local businesses are not now offering that they could offer to plug the gap. Recruiting new businesses is also part of that plan, he said. Determining each business’s leakage and how to stop it is crucial in a tougher economy, although Texas is not hurting as bad as some other states, he said.

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Burleson County Tribune